The Begininng of Change
by Lala to the power of 2
Summary: Changes, slow but inevitable, between two people. Falling in love is a long process, and these are just a few moments from that journey. Ren/Bya
1. Cooking For Two

All things, great or small, have a beginning. Some things start out small and grow, gradually, so slowly that no one even notices the change until everything is upside-down. Change, be it good or bad, is inevitable.

One sunny Wednesday afternoon, something began to change.

It was lunch in the office of Seireitei's Sixth Division, and the seated officers were out and about, in the mess hall eating or milling about the court enjoying the brief respite from the daily humdrum of work.

While he would have liked to step outside for his lunch break, Renji had unfortunately fallen behind on his paperwork (again) and was forced to stay in the office to catch up. Thusly, he was reading through files and jotting down notes and signatures in between bites of bento. At least he wasn't alone, even if Captain Kuchiki didn't make for the greatest company in the world.

They were both sitting at their desks, doing their work in silence, when a strange sound quietly washed through the room. Renji paused mid-sentence, unsure if he had heard what he thought he he did, and was about to resume working he heard it again; a low gurgling sound from his captain's desk.

"Uh..." Renji glanced at the Kuchiki. "Are you, uh. Hungry, taichou?"

Byakuya looked embarrassed. "I... had meant to pick something up from the dining hall, but time escaped me. I'm afraid it would be too late now."

Renji looked at him thoughtfully, before glancing at his half-full bento. He held the box out to Byakuya. "You want some of mine?"

A delicate eyebrow raised. "That's... Kind, but I couldn't."

Renji rolled his eyes. "I know you're hungry, sir. I allways make too much anyway so I'm already done. Just take it so we don't have to deal with you passing out on your desk, yeah?" He said, rising from his seat and placing the box on Byakuya's desk with a small grin.

The captain stared at the box before him. It was disorganized, with different kinds of food crammed together unattractively, but it didn't look unappetizing. He could find little fault in the food itself, and he _was_ hungry... A small sigh escaped his lips. "I suppose you have a point. Thank you, Renji." He relented, picking up the clean chopsticks that Renji had put down alongside the box and taking a hesitant bite. After a moment, his eyes widened. He took another bite, and stared at the lunchbox in front of him. "You... Made this yourself, Renji?"

The red-head winced. "That bad?"

Byakuya shook his head. "Not at all, actually. This is... Delicious." He admitted, staring at the box lunch in awe. It was baffling- that foods he had eaten a thousand times or more could suddenly taste so good, just because someone new had made it. He plucked a pickled radish out of the box and popped it into his mouth delicately. "Amazing."

Renji scratched the back of his head, his face reddening. "Now you're just embarrassing me, taichou."

"Do you cook often?" Byakuya asked, ignoring his Lieutenant's embarrassment.

"Yeah. I don't exactly have anyone else to cook for me, so. A few decades will force you to pick some things up. I'm not the only one- I know Kira makes an amazing curry, and Ikkaku's sushi is fantastic; although don't let him near a stove or a fire will break out. And anyway, it's kind of fun. I like cooking."

Byakuya nodded to himself. "It's good to have hobbies. And yours is certainly more productive than any of mine."

A tattooed brow rose. "Yours?"

"Don't you have work you need to be doing?" The Kuchiki countered, thinking of the 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle taking up most of his home office that Renji certainly didn't need to know about.

Renji picked up his pen with a grin. "Of course, Taichou. Enjoy your lunch."

–

The next day at lunch, Renji dropped a wrapped box on top of his captains desk before sitting down with his own lunch.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's lonely to cook for just one person, don't you think?" Renji said, his face turning pink.

An almost imperceptible smile graced Byakuya's lips. "Aa. I suppose it would be."

"Tomorrow, make inarizushi"

"...That's a joke, right?"

–

As it happened, the next captain's meeting ended at Byakuya's lunchtime- an occurrence he foresaw. As such, he decided it easiest to sit in the yard outside the First Division Meeting Hall with his lunch.

"What're you doin' out here, Princess?" A gruff voice called from behind him. Byakuya looked over his shoulder at Zaraki Kenpachi, hovering nosily.

"Eating lunch," he answered simply, breaking his chopsticks in two.

Kenpachi scoffed. "Where'd you get such an ugly-ass bento?

Byakuya swung between the urge to sigh and stab Zaraki in the eye with his chopstick. Instead he answered, "If you must know, Abarai made it."

Kenpachi stared at him blankly. "You got Abarai to make you lunch?" He scoffed. "You lucky bastard."

A thin eyebrow raised.

"That guy is a God in the kitchen. After he made dinner for Yachiru's birthday, I told him he should cook for us all the time. Little asshole told me to fuck off and that's what the cafeteria was for," he looked at the lunchbox contemplatively. "Can I have a bite of that?"

Byakuya glanced up at Zaraki. "I do believe that's what the cafeteria is for, is it not?"

"Asshole."

"Asshole? And here I thought I was a princess."

Kenpachi's eye twitched. Byakuya took another bite.

"If I stop calling you 'Princess' will you share your lunch?"

The Kuchiki looked thoughtful. "Probably not, no."

"Bitch."

–


	2. A Question of Taste

I gotta say, I was absolutely floored by the amount of positive feedback I got for the first chapter. I've never gotten a response like that before! And so, in gratitude, I'm posting the second chapter earlier than I had intended- but I need you to know I WILL NEVER POST TWO CHAPTERS SO CLOSE TOGETHER EVER AGAIN. I already had the first two parts written before I posted anything, so don't get your hopes up, okay? I just don't write that fast! Anyway, part two. Try not to be disappointed, haha.

–

"Shit," Renji said suddenly. "Rukia's birthday is in a week."

Just a few steps away, Byakuya looked up from his desk. "Is that a problem?"

His lieutenant scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I don't have a present for her yet. I mean, I make her dinner every year, but I figured now that I've been promoted I could get her something nice for once, yeah?"

Byakuya looked an odd combination of thoughtful and mildly surprised, as though the thought of getting someone a gift had never occurred to him. "Ah. A birthday present. That's a good idea."

Renji squinted at him. "You... haven't gotten her anything?"

The captain tried not to look embarrassed. "Ah. Well. As you know, Rukia and I haven't exactly... That is, up to this point, I..."

"...Have been a lousy brother?" Renji offered.

"...Yes."

There was a brief silence.

"You wanna go shopping with me after work?"

Byakuya sighed. "I'll meet you at the east gate an hour after we get off."

–

Since they were going to be in a public shopping district outside of Seireitei, the natural thing to do was change out of their uniforms into casual clothing. Looking at the lieutenant now, Byakuya realized that Renji obviously had a problem with this, though it should have been a simple task.

"Absolutely not."

Renji blinked in surprise. "Absolutely not? Not what?"

"You are not wearing that pink... _monstrosity_ in public. I'll not be seen with you wearing such ridiculous garments."

Renji looked down at himself with a frown. He was wearing his favorite yukata- white with pink flowers that he had bought back when he was in training and it was the only kimono he could afford in his own size. It was still the most comfortable thing he owned. "I don't get it, what's wrong with my clothes?"

"It's tacky as sin, for one thing. Not to mention it's obviously suited for a woman."

"What? Don't be ridiculous! You of all people should know that just because it's got flowers doesn't mean it's for girls. And besides, I like it."

"I do not. And you will go home and change clothes or I will not let you go into public. People will _see_ you, Renji, and you're dressed like a woman. A _poor_ woman."

Renji scowled. "It's not girly! I've worn it out before, and no one ever said anything about me looking like a woman."

Byakuya sighed. "Of course not, Abarai. We could truss you up like a geisha and you still wouldn't look in the least bit like a woman. But regardless of this the fact of that matter is that you're wearing a woman's kimono and you look ridiculous," he said with in air of finality. "In fact, I can prove it to you."

"Oh can you now?" Renji challenged.

"I can," Byakuya bit back sternly. "And if there is a public restroom or changing station nearby, I will."

–

Renji pulled at his black hakama uncomfortably, trying to make the legs longer. Byakuya wasn't that much shorter than him, but the difference was apparently enough to make it so his pants only reached his ankles. At least in the waistband hakama were pretty much one-size-fits-all, because if they had been too tight as well Renji might have called the whole experiment off.

He glanced over at Byakuya, who, at his insistence that they trade outfits, had even stolen Renji's spare hair tie. The pink and white 'monstrosity' was too big on him, but not to the point that he was swimming in it, and with some of his hair falling into his face and the rest pulled into a ponytail, Renji had to admit that at the moment the only word he had to describe his captain was 'pretty'. But that didn't prove anything. Byakuya was _always_ pretty.

"Stop fidgeting," Byakuya commanded, absently looking over the wares of the store they were in. He paused at a set of ink brushes, muttering to himself. "An entire set for that price? That's so cheap. Much less than what I usually get...." he said to himself.

Renji looked over his shoulder. "You're getting Rukia brushes? You know she stole some pens from the Living World. We all did, actually."

"Ah. No, actually- I was thinking that mine had been fraying and should be replaced," he looked at the set in his hands. "I should do my own shopping from now. I could get things much cheaper than when one of the servants does it..."

"That's because you can. What with you being rich and all."

"But it's always seemed to _impractical_ to me. Clothes and food I can understand, but things like dishes and ink brushes? I've never seen any difference in how they write whether they're made of hair from a horse or a rat or a human being. It seems unreasonable," he frowned.

"Well, rich people like to spend money on things just because they can, from what I've seen." Renji commented, picking at his ear. "Somehow I'm a little surprised you're not the same."

"I just don't see the point. There are much more practical things to spend the money on than silver and silks."

Renji hummed in agreement. "So... What are you getting Rukia, though?"

The captain thought for a moment. "Something cute."

Renji nodded. "If there's one thing she likes, it's certainly cute. Especially rabbits."

There was a comfortable silence.

Renji frowned. "Shit, what the hell do_ I _get her?"

–

It was an hour later, and the sun was showing it's first signs of setting on the horizon. The pair had finished their shopping, and were now sitting in a small restaurant for dinner, making polite idle conversation.

"Hey, is that Abarai over there?" An only vaguely familiar voice rang form the table behind theirs, "Dude, hey man! What are you doing in this part of town? Man, I haven't seen you since you transferred to the Sixth!"

Renji turned to face the man calling him. "Oh, hey, Kazu. I'm kinda in the middle of dinner now, but next time I come around the Eleventh I'll look for you. We can go out for a drink or something."

The man who was apparently Kazu nodded, glancing at Byakuya. "I get it, yer on a date, right? I won't interrupt," he said with a grin. "But man, being a lieutenant means you get your pick of the girls, huh? Your girlfriend here's a real- holy crap, that's Kuchiki-taichou."

Byakuya calmly put down the cup of tea he had been drinking from. "And there you go, Renji. I think my point's been made."

Kazu laughed uncomfortably. "Um. I'm gonna go ahead and leave before this gets any more awkward. Later, Abarai!"

Renji frowned, only sparing his retreating friend a glance before returning to his captain. "Oh come on, just because it makes _you_ look like a girl doesn't mean anything!"

Byakuya's lips turned into a sharp frown. Renji averted his eyes.

"Er. That is. Uh. I don't mean that.... Fine, I won't wear it in public anymore!"

"You're not wearing it at _all_, Renji. It's hideous and you're throwing it away."

"Aw, c'mon, taichou! Don't be such a Fashion Nazi- it's the most comfortable thing I own!"

A delicate eyebrow raised. "'Nazi'?"

"Oh right- that's something we learned about in Ichigo's high school, so you wouldn't... Not the point! I'm not throwing it away!"

"Well, you're certainly not wearing it again. You're a lieutenant now- surely you can afford a wardrobe that doesn't make you look like a female hobo," the Kuchiki stated calmly. "In fact, I think I won't even return it to you. You may return my garments tomorrow, Renji, and in return for stealing this monstrosity from you, I'll even pay for a new one. Which I'll pick out myself so that you don't end up looking like you pulled your clothing out of a garbage dump."

"Oh, it's not THAT bad. It's a little tacky, I'll admit, and bit worn out and threadbare, but it's not like it's been run through pig trough." Renji scoffed. "Whatever, fine. But you're not throwing it away."

Byakuya came dangerously close to rolling his eyes. "Why does it matter if I throw it away? You still won't have it either way, Renji."

"It just does! Look, just- don't, okay? Please?"

A gentle sigh, and the captain nodded. "Fine. I'll put it into storage or something. Can we please finish dinner and stop talking about your atrocious taste in attire now?"

"Agreed. Can I at least help pick out my new clothes?"

"No. No you may not."

"Fine." Quietly, to himself, "you don't have to be such a bitch about it..."

"Excuse me?"

"I called you a bitch, sir. And am prepared to do so again."

"Well, you're a boorish pig with no taste, so we'll call it even."

"Yes, captain."


	3. What Sort of DevilMachine is This?

"You know I don't mean to sound rude or anything sir, but... Why are you still here?" Renji asked one evening at work, finishing up some minor documents he had been running late on. "I mean, I know you work overtime every now and then, but I'm pretty sure you finished the last of today's work like, an hour ago. Shit, I think you've done all the paperwork for the rest of the week, too, actually."

Byakuya kept his face level, "There is allays more work to be done. I know I've heard you complaining that the paperwork never seems to end, so is it so unreasonable that I'm trying to lessen the load?"

"Considering the fact that at the rate you're going you won't have anything left to do during actual work hours for the next week, I'd say it is." Renji leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms wearily. "Besides, you're still human – it's not like you actually want to be crammed in this tiny office any more than me. So what's wrong?"

A small, almost imperceptible sigh escaped the captain. "I suppose you've caught me. I'm procrastinating."

"...You're procrastinating... By doing paperwork? What the hell are you trying to stall that _paperwork_ is the better option?"

Byakuya's face tightened into a frown. "It's... a family issue."

Renji nodded. "Ah. Some big boring clan meeting bullshit?"

The Kuchiki shook his head slightly. "No. I do not shirk my duties to my family out of simple distaste. If it were actually important, I would be there." A pale hand reached up, and fingers began massaging a temple. "In fact, this is far worse than a simple clan meeting."

A tattooed brow rose."Worse, huh? What is it?"

Byakuya eyed Renji for a moment, debating whether or not to continue the conversation. But a few seconds, and he spoke again. "Every couple of months, my grandmother comes to the main house to stay for a few days. And she spends the entire time yelling at me." Byakuya admitted, hand falling form his abused temple to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Last night was dedicated to how I neglected family affairs to focus on work, and how that made me a horrible person. Which means tonight she'll be onto insulting Hisana and Rukia, tomorrow she'll be on remarrying and having children, and then, hopefully, she'll go back to her own home and leave me alone. Or she'll stay another two days, which will be dedicated to how things were different in her day and how my grandfather was a much better man than me, respectively."

Renji, for a moment, had nothing to say. His eventual contribution was a simple "Wow. What a bitch. I can see why you don't want to go home."

"Indeed," Byakuya agreed with a hint of exasperation. "And as I have no obligation to listen to ravings of a senile old woman, I intend to spend as much time away from the estate as possible. At least, until my honored grandmother sends a servant to fetch me; but I have a good forty-five minutes until she resorts to that."

Abarai shrugged. "Well, they'll just come looking in here, won't they? You could try hiding."

Byakuya considered this carefully. Weighed his pride versus the presence of his grandmother. "...But where would I hide?"

Renji grinned.

–

"Well, here she is. Home sweet home," Renji announced, holding the door open for his guest. Byakuya stepped inside, casting a critical eye over the room.

All in all, it wasn't as bad as he had expected. A little messy, but not slobbish – just a matter of having not put a few things away after they were last used instead of dirty dishes and worn clothing strewn about the floor as he may have secretly feared. Byakuya nodded to himself in silent approval, stepping inside and slipping off his sandals.

Renji let out a sigh of relief at the reaction. "Well, I don't usually have too many guests – ones that don't immediately beeline for the liquor, anyway. But uh, make yourself at home, I guess. I'm gonna take a quick shower and then make us some dinner, assuming you don't mind."

Byakuya nodded, seating himself on the small couch while Renji wandered off to wash. After a few minutes of polite boredom, however, his curiosity got the better of him and Byakuya began to examine some of the strange objects lying around he couldn't identify – a sign that they had most likely been requisitioned from the World of the Living during his assignment, as so many of the strange things Rukia had were.

The thin tubes Renji used in place of ink and brushes, called 'pen' if he recalled. A flat rectangular device with numbered buttons and a tiny screen; further investigation revealed it to be some sort of electronic mathematics device; which explained how Renji had been getting the accounting done so quickly lately. Books and comic books, similar to Rukia's stash. A tube with a lens on the end that shone a bright light when a button was pushed. A black box with a wire connected to what seemed to be a pair of earplugs.

This one rather confused Byakuya, as the first two buttons he pushed (the one with a square on it and the one with two triangles pointing to the left) did nothing, although the second did cause the box to produce a bizarre whirring noise. The third button, with a single triangle labeling it, revealed the object's actual function, as it caused the machine to emit a noise that surprised Byakuya enough to throw the object across the room. After a few moments of reveling in the embarrassment of that gesture, he retrieved it, and brought the earplugs back to his ears to better distinguish the sound as being music.

Music that was, he decided, not to his tastes. He pressed another button in an attempt to stop the music, and a small door opened on the side of the device, causing a transparent rectangular object with black ribbon inside to fall out. He looked at it. Looked at the table where he had found the music-machine, where several more ribboned-flat-things sat. Put a different one in and hit the triangle button again.

Ten minutes later, this is how Renji found him. Byakuya glanced up to see his freshly-bathed lieutenant toweling his hair and looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What are you listening to?" he asked, after a moment.

"I have no idea, but I've decided I rather like it," Byakuya replied, pulling out the earplugs and handing the machine back to it's owner. Renji winced when he brought one of them to his own ear to see what he had been listening to.

"Seriously? I have Metallica, Yanni, the soundtrack to The Lion King, Elvis Costello, Patsy Cline, and Reggae Christmas From Studio One, and you decided you like the _Spice Girls_. And you said _I_ have bad taste."

Byakuya frowned indignantly. "I liked it. It's... peppy. And you DO have bad taste, at least in clothing. What on earth are you wearing now, anyway?"

Renji rolled his eyes. "A tee shirt and sweatpants are perfectly normal clothing. Besides, I stole them from Ichigo so you can blame him if they're in bad taste. If you don't like it you can give me back my old yukata," he said, turning around to enter the kitchen. "I'm starting dinner. No more complaints about my 'bad taste' if you wanna eat, Mr. Houseguest."

A tight frown at the rude comment, but Byakuya refrained from a comeback nonetheless. Renji was right – he was currently a guest, and had no right to reprimand anyone for rudeness or insubordination.

Eventually, he wandered into the kitchen to watch Renji cook. "So what was that music-machine, precisely?" he asked after a few moments.

"A cassette player," was the simple reply, Renji not bothering to look back as he chopped a green pepper. "And the things that go with it are tapes," he continued. He pushed the chopped pepper to the side of the cutting board, pulling an onion under the knife next. "Yumi and the girls all wrangled themselves CD players, and Hitsugaya-taichou got one of them MP3 things, but they stuck me with the cheap one. Well- Ikkaku got the cheap one. We never did find him any 8-Tracks to go with his player, actually. Got everything at a pawn shop during one of Matsumoto's many shopping sprees downtown. She and Yumichika just went nuts in those clothes stores, and usually dragged one of us with. Rukia would go with too, but only if they'd stop at a pet store on the way so she could pet the bunnies," he explained idly, throwing vegetables into a simmering pan on the stove. "She just loves those freaking rabbits."

Byakuya nodded, something like a smile crawling on his face at the image of his sister enthusiastically nuzzling a rabbit. "Yes," he agreed fondly. "She really does."

He continued to watch Renji cook, a comfortable silence settling between them. Later, they ate dinner (divine, as expected), and Renji told more stories from the living world; and of Rukia and his own childhood. Somewhere in the midst of a tale wherein his adopted sister kicks Kurosaki in the groin, Byakuya became aware of the small, but sincere smile that had slipped across his own face. Judging from the look in his eyes, he'd wager Renji had noticed it as well.

–

"Where the devil have you been, boy? I sent one of the servants to fetch you three hours ago! I know you weren't at work, so what kind of Rukongai whore did you find yourself this time, you ungrateful bitch?" The screeching voice of his grandmother, Kuchiki Rika, was how Byakuya was welcomed home. And to think, he had been having such a nice dinner, he had actually forgotten about her for a while.

"Oh, all kinds, Grandmother. It was an orgy, you see, so it was hard to keep track of who was from where," he drawled, not even looking at her as he made his way towards the baths.

The noise that emitted from her throat would have been better suited to have come from an owl. Or perhaps a howler monkey. "_WHAT?_"

"An orgy, Grandmother. Full of diseased hookers and hermaphrodites. That's what I do now, you see. I have sex with transvestites and other people with varying degrees of gender and make them call me Mary Sue while I bark like a dog."

A massive coronary on her part was the ultimate hope for a reaction. Instead, she threw a vase at him.

It was at that point that Byakuya realized his snide comments would have grave consequences - there was no way she'd leave by the end of the week now.


End file.
